Brain Twisters (1991)

Cast:

Farrah Forke is Laurie Stevens
Terry Londeree is Dr. Philip Rothman
Joe Lombardo is Frank Tun
Donna Bostany is Michelle

What the box says:

A mad, sci-fi thriller about an experiment in computer-generated mind control that goes out of control...and the body count is building!

Plot:

Some guy is jogging alongside the road and is run over in a non-Deathrace 2000 fashion. The driver is an test-subject for an experiment conducted by Dr. Phil Rothman. Rothman learns later that his project is goiung to be terminated by the Biotronics Company if he doesn't get results soon.

Rothman is also teaching at the local university. He hires Laurie, as a lab assistant for his project.

Denise is being followed by a creepy guy who murders her. Laurie finds the body and calls the police and is questioned by Detective Frank Tourey. The campus is rocked by the murder of Denise, a coed.

Dr. Rothman sees Michelle, a student who is more interested in throwing herself at him to raise her grade in his class than actually work. He offers to help with her grades if she takes part in his neural experiment.

The police question Denise's boyfriend, Ted. He freaks out and jumps out of a window. Afterwards, Det. Tourey learns that Ted's body was taken to the Biotronic Company. He learns that Dr. Rothman has taken Ted's brain for study. However, that's not all of it, Tourey learns that the driver, Varick, that ran over the jogger also died and Rothman comes to the police station with a court order demanding Varick's head.

That night, Rothman starts the neural experiment on Michelle.

Decades ago, mad scientists had to rely on the graphics of 8-bit video games for their projects.

Laurie gets worried when her friend, Yvonne freaks out and runs out of a carwash. Hours later, Yvonne freaks out again at a frat party and grabs a pair of scissors and gets stabby-fu on some of those there. The police arrive and take her away.

Det, Tourey tries to question Dr. Rothman, who refuses to explain anything.

Rothman calls the company and wants to end the project because of all the weird deaths. They refuse and decide that Rothman has a little too much morality for them.

The Feds wants Tourey out of the case. Tourey calls Laurie to invite her to dinner. That night, he tells her about Rothman and Biotronics company. Laurie grabs a knife, so she's also has been tested in the project. However, Tourey sheer manliness when he kisses her frees her from the psycho killing. She refuses to help spy on Rothman for him.

Tourey learns that the captain has suspended him. He decides that should mean he have more time to antagonize Rothman. Tourey also spies on Rothman.

In the lab, Laurie realizes that Rothman is acting awfully strange. She snoops around and finds some video tapes of experiments when Rothman leaves.

Michelle starts the experiment on herself and goes berzerk like all the others.

Laurie starts watching the lab tapes. Rothman breaks in and chases her. He knocks her out and assumes he chokes her.

Back at the lab, Rothman finds the company is taking his research away to continue the project. The company man shoots Rothman.

Tourey heads to find Laurie.

The company man is atacked by the crazy Michelle. Frank and Laurie find Rothman's lab emptied.

Later, some kid is playing a video game with the ominious music played in the background....

What I say:

The brain makes some think and used as the squishy substance on every other episode of C.S.I. to amp up the gore. If Brainiac or a batch of zombies aren't feasting on the brain, it has been amplified as the most evil human internal organ according to horror movies. How evil did a car accident turn a head evil in the Brain That Wouldn't Die? Sci-fi gives us evil brain typically with robots or some sort of computer Atomic Brain, Brain Machine, and Evil Brain from Outer Space.

What's the biggest problem with this movie? It alternates between so many characters, hard to keep track of who is who. Lord of the Rings has less characters to keep track of. However, that isn't the only problem. Prepare for one of the more enduringly boring movies this side of Massacre. Generic ideas are expected in these kind of movies. Could this movie have better or seemed more original in 1991? A scientist's experiments in mind control lead to the test subjects going psycho. That seems like practically 30% of low budget horror movies. Imagine some of the CG in today Sciffy-Fy world premieres as actually not being totally atrocious. Well, those effects or even the effects from the Lawnmower Man would be an improvement. Who am I kidding? The graphics of the Atari 2600 would be an improvement.

It's a shame the mad scientist doesn't have the Peter Cushing vibe. He does act superior to everyone around him. However that isn't enough to justify him walking around with a blank Peter Weller look and make continual snide comments about how he can do whatever he wants and that he's above the law in a non-Steven Segal manner.

The police detective who bucks his captain's orders when he 's got a hunch that a scientist is tampering into things. How many episodes of Hunter or Walker: Texas Ranger have the main character investigating into something he's ordered to leavea alone? Without the computer generated mind control, the movie probably would have been done with the doctor's human guinea pigs going sociopathic from some sort of medical experiment.

Quotable Dialogue
"Terminate,we may have to terminate?"
"He's spooky, that guy."
"Quit school and to pursue your lascivious alents."
"I moonlight I tape weddings on the side."
"Have an onion ring, shut up..."
"Rats aren't people!"
"You don't think pink is my color?"
Morals of the Story
Walkman cassette player are a fatal crime.
Decapitated heads should be in gallon jars.
1991 computer graphics are below Colecovision.
Early 1990s dance clubs are full of swinging dancers.